Unfinished business: The real political agenda

This is the reality, the real political agenda that seemed to be so slippery for the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government to pursue. Some issues were delayed deliberately and others were held to be "nonexistent." Nevertheless, regardless of the reason, they are there to be dealt with.

Take freedom. According to Freedom House, Turkey still ranks low on the list and has been labeled "partly free." This has remained unchanged for years, despite warnings and signs that say dangers damage democracy and scare individuals from speaking out.

Many of us in the press have issued warnings about the Internet Law, a constant threat to free speech. We have pointed to Article 301, which was amended only cosmetically and led to some 50 new cases involving "insulting Turkishness" -- whatever that now means. And please welcome the brand new case of a book that will now keep us busy with Article 216, which, if correctly and properly implemented, highlights much apparent racist outrage and hate speech. This particular case, "State vs. Nedim Gürsel," is bound to cause new headaches.

Gürsel, an author of international acclaim and a resident of Paris since the mid '70s, published his new novel, "Allah'ın Kızları" (Daughters of God), last year. The book is a piece of fiction about the Prophet Muhammad's wives and his time.

Some months ago the novel was labeled "blasphemous" and was taken up by the prosecutor's office, which charged it with "inciting hatred," although it was known that "sensitivities" about religion were the defining factors for the lawsuit against its author. One Turkish citizen went even further: He asked the Directorate of Religious Affairs to "assess" its content and issue the results publicly. Despite the fact that the court did not "feel" it necessary to ask for an independent opinion of expertise on the content, it asked -- in an ad-hoc manner -- its subordinate body, the Religious Affairs Council, to issue a public evaluation on the authenticity of its content. It did, criticizing its content practically as blasphemy.

In desperation, Gürsel wrote a letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to intervene and reminded him that it was all fiction and thereby not vilifying any belief. Nothing came of this. The case is now pending, with a prison sentence on the horizon for Gürsel.

Needless to say, it has added to the stress tests for the tolerance of dissenting views in Turkey. Those of us who claimed that even Article 216 would be problematic proved to be right.

Much attention was paid to Gürsel abroad, particularly in France. But, what looked puzzling was the lack of enough attention in the case among the ultrasecularist news outlets in Turkey, which have otherwise been known for their extreme attention in such cases; and, what is more interesting, not a single literature circle -- except International PEN, a worldwide association of writers -- made it an issue. This is peculiar.

Nevertheless, this is a new and symbolic case of freedom of expression, no matter its content, doomed, it seems, to head to Strasbourg, unless it is dropped. This may look trivial -- if not controversial -- to the government, but it will grow even bigger.

The issue, again, is not this or that specific case. It is about the way some problematic articles of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) persist, limiting the domain of free speech and expression in writing. So far, there is no sign -- let alone pledge -- that they will be revised.

Recent reports tell us the AK Party government will attempt to amend some 20 articles of the Constitution by seeking consensus in Parliament. If not, it will seek approval -- as a second option -- through a referendum.

If the AK Party wants to send signals after two paused years of reform, one easy way to begin would be to deliver a new "package" on freedom of expression and seek approval of consensus later on constitutional issues. This will test the opposition rather than be subjected to stress tests itself.